‘Mudik’ Travelers Choose to Depart at Night, Early Morning

The volume of mudik travelers using private vehicles has increased significantly, especially from the evening to early morning. Starting today, the one-way and odd-even traffic policies are being applied to toll roads.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Homecomers wait at Pasar Senen station, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (27/4/2022). The flow of going home through Pasar Senen station began to experience a surge in passengers on D-5 Lebaran.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Approaching the peak of mudik (exodus) travel, the number of travelers using private vehicles on the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road has increased significantly. As travelers favor departing in the evening or early morning, there is high potential for traffic to become congested during these times.

Ahmad Zamzuri, the transactions and environment manager of the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road, said that from 9 p.m. on Tuesday (26/4/2022) until 6 a.m. on Wednesday (27/4), the number of outbound vehicles departing Greater Jakarta (Jabotabek) through the Cikampek Utama tollgate (GT) had increased 31 percent from the normal figure.

"It usually becomes crowded at dawn or early in the morning. Travelers usually depart after dawn," Zamzuri said at the main Cikampek tollgate on Wednesday.

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From morning until noon on Wednesday, toll road operator PT Jasa Marga and the police implemented the contraflow traffic management system on the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road to reduce vehicle density. The contraflow system was applied from 7:30 a.m to 11 a.m. from kilometer marker (KM) 47 to the Cikampek Utama tollgate. In addition, Jasa Marga temporarily closed the Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) Elevated Toll Road from 8:08 a.m. to 9:47 a.m. in an attempt to reduce vehicle density.

Increased vehicular traffic on the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road was seen on Tuesday (26/4), the sixth day (D-6) before Idul Fitri. According to data from Jasa Marga, a total of 53,000 vehicles left Jabotabek via the Cikampek Utama tollgate on Tuesday, up 89 percent from the normal figure.

The cumulative number of vehicles leaving Jabotabek via the Trans-Java Toll Road through the Cikampek Utama tollgate from D-10 to D-6 totaled 213,180, a 29.4 percent increase compared to the figure on normal days.

High vehicle density was also seen on Wednesday on the Palimanan-Kanci and Cikopo-Palimanan toll roads in West Java. There were also vehicles queuing at rest areas on the two toll roads. In order to reduce the vehicle density, the toll road operator implemented an open-close system at rest areas.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Motorcycle travelers cross the Jakarta-Bekasi border on Jalan Kalimalang, East Jakarta, Wednesday (27/4/2022). A survey conducted by the Transportation Research and Development Agency in March 2022 showed the high public interest in using motorbikes for mudik (going home) this year. There are at least 16.9 million people who will mudik using motorbikes.

Traffic management

Starting on Thursday, the police and a number of relevant organizations will be applying the one-way traffic and odd-even license plate policies on the Trans-Java Toll Road. The policies apply from KM 47 of the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road to KM 414 at the Kalikangkung tollgate in Semarang, Central Java.

On Thursday, the one-way traffic and odd-even policies will be enforced from 5 p.m. to midnight, while they will apply from 7 a.m. to midnight on Friday (29/4) and Saturday (30/4). On Sunday (1/5), the two policies will apply be enforced from 07 a.m. to noon.

Zamzuri said Jasa Marga would open 30 tollbooths at the Cikampek Utama tollgate to support the one-way traffic system. Before the system is implemented, the toll road lanes will be emptied first.

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“Before the one-way route is implemented, of course the route from the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road to the Kalikangkung tollgate will be emptied. This will take about two hours. To support the one-way traffic, we will open at least 30 tollbooths on routes [heading] towards Trans-Java," said Zamzuri.

The operations head of the police’s traffic unit, Comr. Eddy Djunaedi, said the implementation of the one-way traffic and odd-even policies were on schedule. "Vehicles that do not comply with the traffic policies will be directed to the nearest toll road exit. [They] can then use the regular roads," he said.

Separating odd- and even-numbered vehicles will cease at KM 10 and KM 47 of the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road, as per the recent trial.

The segregation will instead be carried out on toll road access roads so it does not interfere with the flow of traffic on the toll road.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has called on travelers to understand the function of and obey the odd-even traffic policy. Cars with even-numbered license plates may only pass on even-numbered dates, and the same applied to cars with odd-numbered license plates. He also told travelers that information on traffic policies were available via the mass media.

Land Transportation Director General Budi Setiyadi said measures to prevent traffic congestion would also be carried out on regular roads. "Increased flow of mudik travelers on regular or alternative roads should be also anticipated," he said. (NAD/MTK/ERK/OSA /GIO/IKI/TAM/JOL)

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.